Monday, December 30, 2013

I am a recent convert to Rocky Road,
having never really eaten it until two years ago when a really good batch was
gifted to the office.Since then I’ve
meant to give it a go.So when all
thoughts of making preserves as Christmas gifts were no longer feasible time
wise, I thought of these and speedily put a few bags together the night before
dishing them out as Christmas offerings for work colleagues.

The white chocolate bars are very festive
looking but that is not to say you can't make them all year round.You can always kid yourself they’re healthy with
the pistachios and cranberries.

I made the recipe twice, once with white chocolate and once with dark and then combined the two types in cellophane gift bags.My preference was for the white chocolate both in taste and appearance.I suggest using a good quality chocolate as it does make all the difference.

Of course this post was supposed to be
pre-Christmas but I’m sure most of you will know that last-minute seasonal
panic that normally occurs and will forgive me, especially if I leave you with this quote which I pinned earlier today from Pinterest and via this site. I think it fits the bill for the coming of a new year.

Be kind

work hard

stay humble

smile often

stay loyal

keep honest

travel when possible

never stop learning

be thankful always and

...love.

Rocky Road

250g white (or dark) chocolate, chopped

1/3 cup shelled pistachios

½ cup dried cranberries

100g marshmallows (if you're using the bigger ones, chop if you wish)

Grease and line a baking tin or Pyrex dish
(approx. 15cm x 20cm), leaving an overlap of baking paper for easy removal.

Put the chocolate uncovered in a microwave
safe bowl.Microwave in bursts of 30
seconds (stirring after each burst) for about 1-2 minutes or until melted and
smooth.

Mix the pistachios, cranberries and
marshmallows in a large bowl.Add the
melted chocolate and stir to combine.

Press the mixture into the tin and
refrigerate for about 2 hours, or until set. Cut into squares, rectangles or chunks.

Friday, December 13, 2013

If you ever get fed up smelling the roses, try orange blossom water
instead. Gorgeous. I’ve been inhaling the heady scent since
dousing these cakes with it. And in case that’s not enough, you can flavour the yoghurt with it too.

I took one of these loaves along to our December book club’s pot luck dinner. It was a lovely way to
end our year of book club sessions – wine, food and conviviality.

The cake is about as simple as it can get – whisk the wet, stir the
dry, mix together, pour into tins and bake.
It has that thick open texture you normally get with such cakes. The
marmalade gives it a slight bitterness but it’s the orange blossom that gives
it the edge in flavour and aroma.

Semolina, coconut & marmalade cake

From Jerusalem by Yottam Ottolenghi
& Sami Tamimi

Makes two 500g loaves. If you
want to make a 1kg loaf, increase cooking
time by a further 20-30 minutes.

180ml rice bran oil

240ml fresh orange juice

160g orange marmalade (fine cut or without peel)

4 eggs

grated zest of 1 orange

70g caster sugar

70g desiccated coconut

90g standard flour

180g semolina

2 tbsp ground almonds

2 tsp baking powder

Soaking Syrup

200g caster sugar

140ml water

1 tbsp orange blossom water

Preheat oven to 180°C/160°F.

Grease and line two 500g loaf tins with baking paper.

In a bowl, whisk together the oil, orange juice, marmalade, eggs and
orange zest until the marmalade dissolves.

In a separate bowl, mix all the dry ingredients and add to the
wet. Mix until well combined – it will
be quite runny.

Divide the filling between them.
Bake for 45-60 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes
out clean. They should be orangey-brown
on top.

Near the end of baking time, place the syrup ingredients in a small
saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove
from the heat.

As soon as the cakes come out the oven, brush them with the hot
syrup using a pastry brush. Do this
several times, leaving the syrup to soak in before applying again, until all
the syrup is used. You’ll enjoy this as
the perfume wafts into the air.

Once the cakes have cooled down a little, remove from the tins and
leave to cool completely.

Serve with coconut yoghurt or Greek yoghurt flavoured with a drop of
orange blossom water.